“We recently switched from one accounting system to the state system,” said Mechanicsburg Fiscal Officer Dan Eck.
He said during that process some items got entered incorrectly, resulting in the village’s records not matching up with bank statements.
The village was already working to research each discrepancy and sought an accounting firm to help before the scheduled audit.
They now have 90 days to produce the necessary data. Eck said the village is taking advantage of the state’s Local Government Section which provides resources to officials needing to bring their books into auditable condition.
There are currently 13 other entities on the state’s unauditable list, with about half having been added within the past six months. “An entity is removed from the list once we are able to complete our audit,” said Brittany Halpin, spokeswoman for Yost’s office.
A performance audit also released on Thursday suggests 10 recommendations, such as implementing a sick leave policy, increasing transportation efficiency and cutting staff positions, could contribute to potential savings of more than $767,000 for Mechanicsburg Exempted Village School District.
The audit was requested by the Ohio Department of Education after the district’s five-year forecast in October projected possible deficits of more than $4 million.
Mechanicsburg’s revenues took an additional hit this week when voters rejected a 1.96-mill, 10-year property tax renewal that would have generated $189,000 for the district.
Assistant Superintendent Danielle Prohaska said the school will implement some of the recommendations, but said others, like cutting 10 or more staff positions are not feasible.
“Our class sizes would be extremely large,” she said.
Read more about the recommendations in Saturday’s Springfield News-Sun.
The district cut 14.3 positions prior to the audit period.
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